Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-000627/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy (Renew)
A ‘shadow fleet’ of hundreds of old, rickety tankers is shipping Russian oil, thus bypassing sanctions. Many ships in the fleet pose an environmental threat to European waters and coastal communities. Some have been involved in outright sabotage. EU-based individuals and companies have earned up to EUR 6 billion from this form of sanctions evasion. An embarrassing statistic. Sadly, the Council has been unable to act on this problem, blocked by just a small number of its members. Individual Member States in the Baltic region have had enough and are looking for ways to act on their own.
- 1.Does the Commission agree that it can act independently of the Council of the EU, the European Council and Member States when it comes to upholding the EU’s sanctions violation law that has been in effect since 2024[1]?
- 2.Will the Commission exclude companies and individuals profiting from sanctions violation through the shadow fleet from public procurement, tenders and contracts that involve EU funds? If not, please explain why.
- 3.Will the Commission freeze funding for EU projects if they involve companies and/or individuals who participate in the illegal shipping of Russian oil by way of the so-called shadow fleet?
Submitted: 11.2.2025
- [1] OJ L, 2024/1226, 29.4.2024, ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2024/1226/oj.
Last updated: 19 February 2025